A person may be presented with many pieces of information on a daily basis. When such a person comes across a piece of information that is important, that person may try to store the information for future reference in some way. For example, a phone number for a restaurant may be recorded on a loose piece of paper, in a notebook or a planner, or in a database in a computer. If the information is not of long term interest to the person, the information may later be thrown away, crossed out or deleted from the computer.
If the useful information is presented on a computer screen, a user can copy the information by hand or select and save the information in some way on the computer. Saving the information in the computer involves making a selection, choosing to save the selection, and assigning the selection to a location and a file name. Another method includes copying and pasting the information into an electronic note file, such as the “Notes” section of MICROSOFT OUTLOOK, which involves opening an application, selecting a new “Note,” and pasting the information into the “Note” to store the information. Should the user wish to have access to the stored information at a location away from the computer, for instance, on a personal digital assistant (“PDA”) or a POCKET PC, the user must also manually download or copy the file to the portable device. This process requires that the user annotate or format the information such that it can be stored in a proper format in the portable device.
As can be seen from the above, conventional techniques for saving information viewed on a computer screen typically require users to perform a number of steps. In this regard, conventional techniques require a great deal of user intervention.